The Colas c34.13

c34.13

Kūttan or Oṭṭakkūttan came of the class of Śengundar who seem to have pursued the occupations of fighting in the army as privates and captains, and of weaving.¹⁷ Born in a poor family in Malari, an obscure village in the Cōḷa country,¹⁸ he sought service under Śaṅkaran, the chieftain of Puduvai and father of Śaḍaiyan, the patron of the more celebrated Kamban. A certain Gāṅgēyan soon discovered that Kūttan was destined for a higher purpose than household service under Śaṅkaran, and Kūttan expressed his gratitude by composing the *Nālāyirakkōvai* on his patron Gāṅgēya. Another patron of Kūttan was a certain Sōman of Puvanai, i.e. Tribhuvani near Pondicherry. When his fame rose, Kūttan was entertained in their court by three successive Cōḷa monarchs beginning with Vikramacōḷa; on each of them he composed an *ulā*, besides a *paraṇi* celebrating Vikramacōḷa's Kalinga war, and a *piḷḷaittamil* on Kulōttunga II. The last poem is easily the best among the known compositions of the poet on account of its copious diction, its melodious verse, and fine imagery. The stories of the circumstances leading to Kūttan's composition of the *Īṭṭi-yeḻupadu*, *Eḻuppeḻupadu* and the *Takkayāgapparaṇi* belong more to anthropology than history. When the poet's fame stood at its highest, the *śengundar* wanted Kūttan to celebrate the glories of their community, and when the poet sought to excuse himself saying that he could not be expected to employ his talents in praising his own community, the irate *śengundar* made up their minds to do away with the man who was so utterly devoid of caste-consciousness. The poet escaped with his life by a trick played by his friends on the foolish *śengundar*, but then he agreed to praise the *Īṭṭi* (spear), the chief weapon of the *śengundar* in war, if they would make an offering of 1008 heads severed from the shoulders of as many first-born *śengundar* youths for the goddess to inspire Kūttan to his enterprise. After some argument this was agreed to, and Kūttan sang the *Īṭṭiyeḻupadu*, seventy verses in praise of the spear, and the *Eḻuppeḻupadu*, seventy verses calculated to bring back to life the 1008 youths whose lives had been sacrificed. Of the second poem only some fragments are left and these are by no means entitled to a high place as Tamil poetry. The *Īṭṭiyeḻupadu*, also poor poetry, contains a number of local allusions to apparently historical incidents in which *śengundar* soldiers and chieftains played a part; but there is no means yet of explaining these allusions, and the annotators, unwilling to confess ignorance, fabricate legends. Kūttan is said to have become Oṭṭakkūttan after he got the severed heads of the *śengundar* youths to attach themselves (*oṭṭa*) again to their respective bodies. A more plausible, if less romantic, story accounts for the name by saying that, at the request of the Cōḷa king, the poet attached (*oṭṭa*) a *kaṇṇi* of the *ulā* to another verse composed by him on the spot. The *Takkayāgapparaṇi*, obviously an imitation of the *Kalingattup-paraṇi*, in its metres and diction, handles a Purāṇic theme with considerable force and power, and must rank high as literature, though well below its model. Other poems attributed to Kūttan are the *Sarasvatiyandādi* (said to be the very first of his compositions) in praise of Sarasvati, the goddess of learning, by whose grace he became a poet; and the *Arumbait-toḷḷāyiram*. The village of Kūttanūr on the banks of the Ariśil river in the Tanjore district keeps alive the memory of the poet and the patronage of his talents by the Cōḷa rulers who gave him the village as a fief. A Sarasvati temple in it, and a pedestal inscribed in Tamil characters of the 12th century and recording that Kavipperumāl alias Ōvāda-kūttar, the grandson of the *Kavic-cakravarti* of Malari, set up an image of Sarasvati,¹⁹ now lost, show that the stories which connect Kūttan with Sarasvati in a special manner are not altogether unfounded.²⁰